The Economic Times

In 2014, Robyn Denholm bought a Tesla Model S and met a board member; 4 years later, the chance encounter led her to become Teslas board chair in 2018

Robyn Denholm did not enter Tesla through a traditional route to the boardroom. In 2014, she was waiting for a Tesla Model S and happened to meet Brad Buss, then a Tesla director and an associate of Elon Musk. Their conversation eventually turned to something much bigger. Buss asked whether she would consider joining Teslas board. Denholm accepted. She became a director in August 2014, when Tesla was still trying to prove that an electric-car company could grow beyond its early reputation and manufacture vehicles at scale. Her role has drawn fresh questions about board independence and oversight.